Albro and Wooden will face off in the Aug. 7 Democratic primary for the 3rd Congressional District, which covers Barry, Calhoun, Ionia, Kent and Montcalm counties.

The winner will face Republican Justin Amash of Cascade Township, who has represented the 3rd District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2010.

Albro, 65, of Middleville, is a former teacher who started teaching first grade in Marlette, a town in Michigan's Thumb, and later taught in East Grand Rapids. She also served as director of Woodcliff’s Early Childhood Center. She is a former business owner who founded the childcare center, the Creative Learning Center. She also ran a child-centered educational retail store called Creative Learning Toys.

She decided to run for office, she said, because she saw how “dark money” from people in power influences decision making in government.

“I am running because I want to turn that power around and give it to the people so the people are making decisions about what’s best for them,” she said.

Wooden, 65, of Grand Rapids is the senior minister at Frontier Street Church in Grand Rapids. Wooden’s son Stephen Wooden, who is active in politics and running for county commission in Kent County, inspired him to run for office. Frustration with what he sees as a “decline in democracy” convinced him to run for Congress specifically.

“For me, it seemed to be a way to express my values on a larger scale than in my congregation,” he said.

Albro wants to see a change in education to fix how "inequitable" schools are.

"It seems like children who need the most in education get the least in this country," she said.

She also wants universal healthcare, which she says will take care of a lot of the nation’s problems. She believes the U.S. should work toward having an “inclusive economy.”

“People want to be responsible for themselves,” she said. “They want to work hard. They just aren’t able to find the jobs that pay enough. If we lift the wages, people will be making a livable wage and be able to buy their own food and housing.”

Wooden considers children the nation’s “ultimate infrastructure.”

“If we don’t take care of them, they won’t be able to take care of us,” he said. “If we don’t give our children everything they need to thrive, the country cannot get better.”

He wants to see all children covered by Medicare, have access to pre-K education and receive free community college education.

“I think we have been so business friendly at the state and federal levels that we should be more child and family friendly,” he said. “If we did that, the payoff would be immense. We would have better lives and better people to do the work that needs to be done.”

Where they stand on the issues:

Healthcare

Albro says the country needs universal healthcare.

Wooden wants to transform Medicare so it’s like social security. It should be “basic coverage” like social security is basic income for retirees.

She also believes good early childhood education could help with gun violence prevention, because "children who are nurtured when they are young grow up to be more mentally stable adults."

Wooden wants to see “red flag” laws where judges would be able to impound firearms of those with substance abuse, domestic abuse or dangerous mental health issues.

He also wants to see user licensing, liability insurance for gun owners and a law establishing that no one under 21 can purchase or own firearms.

Environment

Wooden wants the government to work with businesses on how they affect the environment. He would like to see corporate taxes restored to what they were before they were cut earlier this year. Those funds could be used to remediate the social and environmental costs of business, he says. He also wants to see incentives created for corporations to take responsibility for their environmental impact.

Wooden thinks the federal government should support local and state policies that take care of natural resources.

Albro believes the country could get its energy from 100 percent renewable sources sooner than what’s expected if the money spent to subsidize fossil-fuel companies were put into renewable energy.

She also thinks individual homeowners and businesses should be able to sell back to the energy grid if they overproduce energy.

Immigration

The main reasons people migrate to the U.S. is to flee from danger and poverty, Wooden says. He believes U.S. immigration policy should include improving the health of neighboring countries.

To do this, he wants to make the North American Free Trade and Central American Trade Agreements fair for all countries.

Wooden also wants to end the “War on Drugs," which he says has created more corruption and violence in Mexico and Central America.

Wooden wants there to be a “clear” path to citizenship. He also supports a customs and border agreement with Mexico and Canada.

Albro wants families to stay together during the immigration process. She thinks there needs to be humane and fair laws in place for immigration.

Contact Kalea Hall at (269) 966-0697 or khall@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter at @bykaleahall.